Czech company puts mobile container brewery on the market

photo: (radio.cz)

Necessity is the mother of invention, they say, and it was an insatiable thirst for a beer on a deserted beach in Cambodia that led a group of Czechs to construct a mini-brewery in a container. Today it’s on the market and shows promise of selling abroad as well.

A mobile container brewery is a thirsty man’s dream and was first invented for teams of workers stationed far from home. Libor Pavelec who constructed the mini-brewery now sold by the firm Well Service told Czech Radio how the idea emerged.

“The idea occurred to us during a work trip to Cambodia, when I and my work mates were wondering how to get a source of beer as close to the beach as possible. It was then that I recalled that under communism Czech firms made these mini-breweries in containers for our workmen abroad, for geologists and workmen drilling in Siberia because they did not want our boys to drink too much vodka.”

The mobile container brewery is easy to move and easy to operate. All you need is a source of water, a source of electricity and waste disposal. Well Service even provides the necessary ingredients and a beer master to help start its operation successfully.

The price of the mobile container brewery is 2.6 million crowns and it produces around 8,000 litres of beer a month. Pavel Poživil, who sells the product, says it is not only practical but financially advantageous.

“The production costs are about five crowns per half a litre of beer, which means that with this brewery we can make beer that is ten crowns cheaper per litre than the market price.”

Well Service is not the first company to put a mobile mini brewery on the market. A few years ago another firm failed to find customers for its product. Pavel Poživil says he’s not worried by the prospect of failure.

“The other mobile mini brewery was twice as expensive as ours. Ours is cheaper, more simple to operate and more mobile, so I don’t think we should have a problem finding clients.”

Another advantage of the mini-brewery is that owners can brew beer according to their taste and experiment with different kinds of beer. Executive director of the Czech Association of Breweries and Malt Houses Martina Ferencová says much depends on the skills of the brewer.

“We welcome any activity that helps Czech beer exports and contributes to its good reputation in the world. On the other hand, Czech beer has gained its reputation thanks to first class ingredients, excellent beer masters and the utmost respect for the tradition of the beer-making. I am not absolutely certain whether a container mini-brewery can meet those high requirements.”

Well Service is hoping that due to the small size of their containers and their easy mobility their product will find many clients abroad and in September the mobile container brewery will make its first sales trip to Russia.